Now You Will Feel No Rain
by Lunacy1111
Summary: This is a continuation of Not A Word, when Peter visited Carla in hospital before her kidney transplant. I thought it was done, but I've been inspired to continue it. I didn't like the title for the rest of the story, so here is Now You Will Feel No Rain. This is a Carter love story, and will include Toyah, Aiden, etc. Rating is M eventually, but for now will be K or less.
1. Chapter 1 The Text Message

Carla flung the magazine away from her imprisoned location on the couch, blowing out a breath of frustration, after flipping through it for the fifth time. As she had done with all the other magazines. She craned her head back to gaze up at the locations of the cracks in the ceiling that her brain had already memorized. As her eyes flitted from the familiar picture on the wall, staring back at her as if taunting, to the same bowl of fruit on the counter, Carla had to stifle a scream. She was losing what was left of her mind, going stir crazy and unable to distract herself from where her mind kept tip toeing. And that was a dangerous place. Carla Connor was always drawn to those more reckless decisions.

But she locked that scream inside. Her brother was asleep in the next room, her hero. With her beloved family perched around him. They did drop in on her occasionally to ask if she needed anything. "No ta, I'm fine" was always her answer of course.

Her eyes fell once more on the phone laid beside her. And those dangerous urges swelled back up. Thoughts of him were never far away. The day she had let all her walls crumble down. Let him hold her. She was sure that was the end of it. A momentary lapse. A moment of madness. A moment of bliss. She told herself. She hadn't counted on him coming back after the surgery. The nights his foot steps made their way to her bedside. How he would gently hold her hand, stroke her hair, and softly kiss her goodbye when he slipped out. Sometimes he would talk to her in the still darkness. Sometimes he was just there. She never told him she knew. That she laid awake, waiting to hear the door creak open, and the comforting thud of his steps. That only then, her eyes drifted closed in contentment. She felt safe.

Her release from the hospital came all too soon. Those nights ended and Johnny brought Carla and Aiden home. Their father. It still made her stomach twist to think the words. She pushed the discomfort down, as she always did. The blowing impact that shattered her existence, all twisted up in the longing for something she never had. And never would, not really, as she watched his eyes shine down on Kate and Aiden. The same eyes that held uneasiness for her. Shaking the thoughts away, Carla hugged the pillow closer to her and squeezed her eyes shut, as those eyes instantly formed in her mind. The softest brown eyes that never wanted to drop their gaze from her own, no matter where they were. The image of those eyes assaulting her brain caused a quick breath to rise in her chest, and Carla felt the familiar fluttering of butterflies spread through her. Along with a dangerous rush of impulse, as she once again reached for her phone. Out of distractions. Out of will power. Carla flicked the off switch on her brain, as her heart lunged forward, and she sent the message.

The buzzing of his phone brought Peter back to reality, as he continued mopping the same spot on the bar for the last several minutes. His thoughts were always there. With her. Laying awake at night while Toyah slumbered by his side, unable to spend them by Carla's side but something in him yearning for that connection just the same. Lost in thought during the day, wondering how she was doing. Always drifting back to how it felt to hold her in his arms again. To be near her, with no one around to remind them why he shouldn't be there. When he let his thoughts permeate deep enough, he could nearly feel how their fingers felt linked together. The softness of her hair between his fingers. How his lips pressed into her hair, against her cheek, and the one time. The feel of his lips pressed so lightly against hers. When he rolled it over and over in his head, he could almost feel her lips press back against his ever so slightly. Hear the quietest moan. It was his mind tricking him certainly. And he let it happen.

Peter was transfixed by the name lighting up on his phone. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest, and that familiar "Carla" tingle spread over his skin, as if her presence was right there with him. The same tingle that had crawled under his skin the moment their eyes locked across the room in that meeting, and he had never been able to shake in the years since. He opened the message, and a smile began to tug at his lips.

_I AM SO BORED_

Peter could clearly envision the agitation glittering in her green eyes. The adorable way her chin would jut out defiantly. The soft pout of her lips.. He was soon snapped out of his enticing vision, as the phone buzzed again. And his lips broke into a full smile.

_TELL ME A JOKE_

Quickly responding, Peter let his mind wander to all the times he had told Carla his corniest jokes. The way she flipped her hair and rolled her eyes at him, groaning in mock misery and giving him that brilliant smile. Before leaning in to meet his warm lips…

Carla immediately snatched up the phone when the response came. The smile she couldn't stop, lighting up her face.

_YOU REALLY MUST BE DESPERATE _

She could not deny that. She was feeling desperation, in more ways than one. The connection between them was well and truly alive, and as electric as ever. Carla had tried her best to hack it to pieces, but it always sprung back to life. Peter always managed to get back under her skin, if he ever truly left at all. Certainly she had opened up a vein to him that day in the hospital. And once again, the pieces of themselves embedded in the other, fused together, sparks ready to erupt just under the surface.

Carla sent her reply quickly, and Peter knew he was getting that brilliant smile.

_GET ON WITH IT BARLOW_

Carla glared at the screen intently. Why did Peter always have to win.

_WHAT IS ORANGE AND SOUNDS LIKE A PARROT?_

Peter was getting impatient. And amused.

_DO YOU GIVE UP, LOVE_

Carla wanted to throw her phone now. But she couldn't stop staring at the last word, and the way the memory of it coming from his lips sent a shiver through her.

_GIVE ME A MINUTE. I AM THINKING._

The response lit up Peter's phone and he let out a chuckle, before he even thought to look around at the still empty bar, and shot his message back.

_YOU ARE SO STUBBORN_

That did get him the eye roll, and he knew it.

_FINE. WHAT IS IT_

Peter smiled at the response. She had been through so much. So much of it inflicted by him. And she still came through with her fighting spirit. Regret flooded him as it always did. A wish for everything to be different. And a surge of love. Love that he definitely should not be feeling for the woman meant to be his ex-wife, while he was having a baby with another woman. But Carla was much more than that, and he knew she always would be.

_A CARROT x_

Carla let out a small laugh. That ridiculous man always could make her laugh. But it was that tiny little x that kept the smile on her face, sent the rush of warmth through her, and made her heart beat just that little bit faster. She sent her response before she could think about it too much, and let her head catch up with her pounding heart.

Peter was prepared for the stream of sharp words to come. Carla hated very little else above being wrong. And of course the audacity of that little x was sure to fire up her temper. He had known the risk he was taking. But Carla had always been that one woman worth any risk. He was not at all prepared for what he did see on the screen. Or the way Carla seemed to reach right through the screen, and right into his chest where his heart lay.

_THANKS PETER x_


	2. Chapter 2 The Story

He knows he should have deleted the texts. Yet there he sat staring at the screen. Again.

It's not like Toyah has been around to see anything, he rationalized. She is always busy with something for the baby or with their surrogate. Not that he minds, and he is excited to be a dad again. From the start.

Sometimes it just brings up thoughts of the baby they lost. Of another life. More than sometimes. And every way that it was all his fault.

He is happy to be making a family, to have a little baby to love. There is just something in the very back of his mind, a niggling thought that it's not quite right. It's not the way it should be. And he glances down at the screen again.

Thinking back to the deleted texts, hiding out and sneaking around of the past; he knew he couldn't do that to her again. Shaking his head, Peter told himself she probably didn't mean anything by it anyway. As that little x gleamed up at him once more. But a smile grew across his face as an idea came to him, and soon he was bounding up the steps to the flat over the café.

Roy greeted Peter at the door and ushered him inside. More like Peter strode toward the chair where Carla often sat, before turning back as way of explanation, "I just came to grab one of Carla's books. She's going stir crazy so I thought I could read it to her"

He was met with a questioning look from Roy that quickly turned to a widened one of horror as he moved forward, possibly quicker than he had ever moved before. Roy more expected Carla to chuck a book at the man's head than share story time, but this was no time for the troubled saga of Carla and Peter. "I don't think that would be a good idea. It's just the topic –- of her books –- it's really not appropriate –-"

Peter chuckled, as he picked up the book from the table, "Not to worry Roy, I'm well aware of what Carla reads. Ahh Giselle…"

This did nothing to settle Roy, and as he stared at the object in Peter's hand, he looked at it like Peter had just stuck his hands straight into a burst of flames.

"Carla used to like when I read to her" Peter added as reassurance but it did nothing for Roy's dismay. With a smirk, Peter continued, "Oh unless you were reading it, sorry Roy…" holding the offending book out to the older man.

"I should think not" Roy proclaimed, refusing to touch the book held out to him.

"As it happens, I have come upon this wonderful edition of the Evolution of Whales. Quite riveting and much more appropriate. For you. And Carla"

Roy stumbled over the final words as he stretched the large and heavy volume out to Peter.

Peter took the book from Roy, and with an affable smile, held out the romance novel to him. Roy grimaced and shrank away, as he instructed, "You can just leave that. There" gesturing at the table as he turned away uneasily.

Peter just grinned, as he picked back up the novel from the table where he had dropped it at Roy's wishes.

Carla looked up with surprise as Peter burst into the room. A wide smile took over her face before she could even stop it, and she raised an eye brow at him in a desperate effort to appear more cool and unaffected than she felt under the surface, as butterflies on speed took over her chest.

Peter gave her a crooked smile that did nothing for the mad fluttering or the glistening sparkle in her green eyes, and he then looked around confused. "I didn't have to force myself through a family barricade.."

Carla just shrugged and gestured toward the other room where Aiden was residing. She was met with a concerned brown gaze and quickly interjected "It's fine"

But Peter could see it certainly was not fine, as the sparkle soon died out in her eyes. But Carla was already trying to distract him, asking about the bundle in his arms.

Peter gave her a cheeky grin as he held up her "Giselle" novel proudly and gave her a saucy wink. He was rewarded as her lips curved up into a smile.

"I thought in case you were still bored, I could read to you about the antics of Giselle" Peter offered with another wink as Carla's smile brightened.

"Did you now" Carla responded, her voice coming out more husky than she intended, but unable to pull her eyes away from Peter's as they locked onto hers, his brown orbs slightly widening as a shiver went down his spine. Not lost on Carla, she let out a dirty giggle.

A giggle that Peter had not heard in way too long. And had such an affect on him, he barely managed to stop himself from lunging toward the couch.

Their gaze continued to hold unwavering, as the sparkle came back into Carla's eyes, with just a hint of longing, which Peter told himself he was just imagining. Yet he still didn't tear his eyes away, and he was powerless to stop the longing from filling his own eyes.

Cutting the tension that covered the room, and was ever rising, Peter offered up the heavier paper weight in his possession.

"Or we have The Evolution of Whales if you prefer" as Carla shook her head in amusement.

"Roy insisted" he added with a smirk, dramatically dropping the heavier book on the table as he made his way to the couch.

Carla shook her head at Peter as he launched into his tale of winding up Roy over Giselle and she barely suppressed a giggle at the mental imagery. She tried to give him a stern look but the corners of her mouth kept turning up.

Peter started to stand, teasing "well I could always get.." gesturing at the table.

But Carla grasped his arm and pulled him back down next to her, shaking her head. "No way" she said with a laugh, settling in and waiting for him to start.

~~"You have kept me waiting, Giselle" Gavin rebuked, as the object of his desire swept into the room, with a careless shrug.~~

Carla smiled as Peter put a brogue on it, with his deep raspy voice.

~~"I am worth the wait," Giselle purred, as she leaned over him, "don't you think" her ample bosom on display for his feasting eyes. ~~

Carla burst into laughter as Peter used his pitchy "Giselle" voice, and she gestured desperately at the room behind them, as she couldn't catch her breath to speak.

"Shhhhh" Peter hushed her much louder than necessary, as his hand came to cover the one already over her mouth. They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, neither even trying to fight the connection, before Peter removed his hand and picked up the book.

"Stop that" Carla warned, as she playfully slapped at his arm. He grinned back at her, but returned to his own gravely voice, moving just that bit closer to her.

~~Gavin wrapped his strong hands around Giselle's slim waist, and tugged her toward him, his aggrevation dissipating by the moment as her eyes sparkled at him. Soon she was splayed across his lap, and he was pulling her dress over one shoulder, baring her milky white skin.~~

Carla listened contendedly, Peter's voice soothing her as it always had done, letting her head rest against his shoulder. Peter instinctively wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer, as his hand lightly stroked her hair.

The warmth of Peter next to her, the way she could feel the vibrations of his voice from his chest, the gentle way he held her; were all so comforting to Carla. She could nearly close her eyes and believe this was another life. A life she desperately missed.

~~Giselle tipped her head back, breathy as Gavin lowered his lips to traverse the column of her neck, burying them in the cavern between her swan-like neck and her creamy shoulder.~~

Carla shifted her head so she could gaze up at Peter, dark lashes framing her green eyes, barely concealing the growing need behind them. She only dropped her heady gaze from the dark eyes that made her heart jump, to settle on his lips as he spoke.

Peter's eyes flitted away from the page, feeling the heaviness of her gaze upon him. He was instantly drawn to the intensity in the movement of her eyes. She could have knocked all the air out of his chest. If she had touched him. The way her eyes were still focused on his mouth made the ache in him intensify and rise.

Carla reached out and knocked the book closed, in case he had any other intentions. Their faces were inching closer together, breaths mingling, drawing out the inevitable moment that had crawled through their dreams for so long. And then their lips touched.

Peter brushed his lips against Carla's in a feather soft barely there touch. Like a whisper of wind that stirs up the dry brush, sparking into a blazing inferno. A gasp of recognition raced through them both at the intimate touch. And they leaned back in for more.

Carla's lips found Peter this time, sparks igniting in the pit of her stomach and rising through her like wild fire. Her hands sliding to hold his face as her lips slid over his, tantalizing him with every touch, his hands now dragging through her hair as their embrace deepened.

Lips were parting in invitation, their natural instinct for the other taking over, tongues tangled together, falling deeper into each other. A dreamy haze of euphoria enveloped them, melting into each other's arms, each touch more thrilling than the last. Until it came crashing down.

Until Carla remembered whose arms she was losing herself in, with abandon. And why she couldn't be there.

Her hands came to press againsts Peter's chest, not so willingly, barely holding him away from her. Shaking her head, Carla cried, "I can't. I can't be that person. Not anymore" Her eyes filled with tears, pleading with him to understand, to help her stop. When all she wanted was to have her lips against his again.

Peter was crushed by the hurt in her green eyes staring back at him. The guilt over the reason Carla could never again brazenly take the man she wanted, fallout be damned, descended over him once more. The guilt over Toyah coming much too far behind.

He thought it might be easier if her green eyes were snapping at him in how dare you glaring anger; if she hated him. But instead he was met with unshed tears amongst the unburied feelings that he longed for, and could never call his own again.

He was entranced by the swollen pouty lips that had just been so hungry against his own. He wished he could kiss them softly, kiss away all the hurt. But Peter pulled her hands from his chest, and held her hands with his own instead. Staring hopelessly at each other for a long moment, fervently wishing the world would spin on it's axis and right their world that had gone so wrong.

When the world simply kept spinning, their hands fell apart, and Peter rose from the couch. "I'll just leave this over here if you want it" as he brought the book to the table. "Oh, but you always have the whale" he offered, as Carla gave him a weak smile.

Her eyes stayed on Peter as he shuffled out of the room, and their eyes held each other when he turned back to look at her. When he finally left her alone, Carla's hand came up to lightly touch her lips, and she leaned her head back, collapsing on the couch. Her phone rang next to her on queue, and Carla snatched it up, swiping at the tears that escaped. Her heart sinking when it was't the man she just pushed away. She debated for a moment and then answered. If there was anyone that could curse that man out of her head, it would be Chelle.


End file.
